The International Cricket Council approved wide-ranging changes to its structure on Saturday after eight of the 10 Test nations voted for proposals that put India, England and Australia in control of the world game — and most of the money.

Only Pakistan and Sri Lanka partially opposed the moves by abstaining in the vote at an ICC board meeting in Singapore. South Africa and Bangladesh had initially indicated they were opposed to the reforms, but ultimately gave in and voted in favour, giving the big three of India, England and Australia the eight votes they needed to pass their plans.

“It’s very important for the ICC to have more commitment from those three members,” ICC president Alan Isaac said. “They would say to you that in the past they tended to concentrate on matters in their own country and perhaps not always spending the time helping, leading the ICC.”

As part of the changes, which still need to be formally adopted by the ICC’s council, a new revenue sharing model will come into play, giving the lion’s share of money to India, and to a lesser extent England and Australia. That was based, the ICC said, on the big three’s larger contributions to the governing body through their rich commercial rights deals.

“The structure of the model will ensure that none of the full members (Test countries) will be worse off than they are at present and if forecasts of revenue generation prove to be correct, all will be significantly better off,” the ICC said in a statement, announcing the proposals had been approved by the board.

Board of Control for Cricket in India president Narainswamy Srinivasan will become ICC chairman for two years from July when Isaac’s term ends, cementing the country’s dominant position at ICC. “I think that’s probably what would have happened anyway,” Isaac said.

The existing ICC-regulated international cricket calendar will also be wiped away and countries will instead negotiate series bilaterally through to 2023, allowing India, England and Australia to pick and choose who they want to play over the next decade and avoid unprofitable or inconvenient tours.

Those bilateral negotiations had to happen “as a matter of urgency'', the ICC said, as cricket's schedule is completely rewritten.

The head of Cricket Australia, Wally Edwards, will chair a newly-formed executive committee for that “transitional period'' through to 2016, with three of the five places permanently reserved on that body for India, England